Choice
by veronicacd's
Summary: Gabriella's relationship with Troy has begun to fizzle. After time, everyone's gone back to cliques and East high's gone back to its old ways. What happens when she decides she doesn't want to get caught up in the reality? T&G oneshot


Probably the longest one shot i've ever written. Enjoy!

* * *

"Remember when he decided to 'go for it' with Jamie!" Chad remarked, laughing.

"Why doesn't he just give it a rest? Pretty obvious that's she's into Nate."

"Thank you!" Jason responded. "Oh, Troy, what about the last bet on drinks!"

"You guys know who the winner was." Troy responded, settling himself on his desk as the three entered the room. "Zeke beat all of you!"

"That's a lie!" He responded, "I had that!"

"Sure," Troy countered, "Keep telling yourself that."

"Telling yourself what?" Gabriella said as she entered the room and reached the group.

"Nothing."Chad responded.

"Just a party."Troy said as he averted his eyes to the clock. Quickly he repositioned himself in his seat as the guys left. Gabriella covered her emotions with a small smile as she made her way to her seat. Nothing seemed quite the same anymore after junior year. The whole gang used to be so close and then like magic everyone split up and went back to the cliques again.

"Hey," Taylor said as she reached Gabriella's seat.

"Hey," Gabriella responded.

"What's up?" Taylor questioned as she took her seat. Gabriella searched over the crowd of student in their desks. Of course, now that Darbus wasn't teaching seniors, everyone arranged themselves back into their old spots; cheerleaders with Jocks, Drama kids front right and brainacs in their own section.

"Nothing_"

"Great so can I see your answers for yesterday's homework? By the time I got to the extra credit, I knew I got one problem wrong. Oh and by the way, the Math test was so easy yesterday wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Gabriella responded nonchalantly. Secretly, she often thought her friend would build herself with work just to get over the fact that Chad had finally pointed out that they were just from two different worlds. It only worried her more about what that meant for her and Troy.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella sighed and tapped her pencil on her desk.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella rolled her eyes as the bell rang. The only huge problem is that Taylor wouldn't leave her alone, whether it was due to Chad or the fact that Troy wasn't spending time with her anymore. Any excuse was still getting on her ner--

"Gabriella!" Taylor screeched getting close to her ear. "What?!" Gabriella yelled back attracting the attention of most the class. "Gabriella Montez," The teacher started. "The bell has rung." Embarrassed, Gabriella tired to ignore the snickers and shot Taylor an annoyed glance. Taylor just ignored it and got out her materials. After a few seconds, she silently mouthed 'do your work!" Gabriella inwardly scowled. This was not how she planned to start her Mondays. Already distressed, she silently kept her mouth shut, avoiding any contact from Taylor until the bell rang.

"Gabriella," Taylor started, but Gabriella wasn't in the mood. Quickly she grabbed her things and exited the room. "Gabriella, we have Cal together!"Taylor called, for all the world to hear.

Another thing, Gabriella noted as she rolled her eyes; Taylor couldn't keep her dam voice down. Of course she knew they had class together, she remembered them squealing at the beginning of the year about it! And of course, it was one of the two classes she had with Troy; this and P.E. "Gabriella!"

_Stop calling my dam name! _

_M_aking her way to class, Gabriella spotted most of the 'populars' chatting about some party. "Troy! You have to come to the party on Friday."

"I'm there," Troy responded play punching Chad. Gabriella continued watching until__

"Ouch!"

"Sorry!"Gabriella muttered, secretly hoping this girl wouldn't make a big deal out of it. "Watch where you're going!" She said as she stormed off. Gabriella clutched her books to her chest as she ignored it. No one dared to do that in the earlier months that she and Troy were dating. Everyone must have known what had been going on with their relationship.

"Only a few more hours till lunch," Gabriella said quietly to herself as she entered the room and took her seat. Troy came in a few minutes with Chad and Gabriella couldn't help but stare with dejection. Quickly that was replaced with intolerance as Taylor walked into the room and took her seat next to her 'friend'.

"Hey, I asked if I could see your homework like 15 minutes ago, remember? To fix an uncertain mistake I may have made?"

"Oh yeah," Gabriella responded trying to hint at her dislike; chances are, it wasn't gonna work until she said something out right. Silently, she handed out her homework to Taylor as the bell rang.

"Ok, everyone I'm collecting your homework, make sure you have it." Gabriella rubbed her temples as the teacher made his way down the aisle collecting assignments. As he made his way to her desk, Gabriella quickly tapped Taylor on the shoulder. "Give me back my homework! He's collecting it!"

"One sec, I just need to make sure I've got this one problem correct, I wanna get a hundred."

"Taylor!"Gabriella whispered furious. "Give me it back!"

"One sec!"

"Tay--"

"Gabriella no homework?

"No, I?"

"If it's not here, I'm not taking it." The teacher said as Gabriella's jaw dropped. The teacher then made rounds to Taylor, who handed in her homework with a smile. "I think it's my best work." She said sweetly.

"Thank you." He said as he grabbed the rest of the homework.

"Sorry," Taylor mouthed as she started to hand Gabriella her homework.

"Keep it!" Gabriella said. Mr. Michaels didn't collect late homework. Even if it was only a few seconds.

"Gabriella, I'm not keeping your homework. I asked you for it this morning. Why didn't you give it to me?" If there was ever a time where she wanted to punch her, this would be it.

"Gabriella?" She snatched her homework from her hand and crammed it into her binder.

"No need to be snappy!" Taylor countered as she rolled her eyes and started to take notes. Again, she said it so _everyone_ could hear. Gabriella sunk into her seat covering her eyes with her hands. God, how she hoped Troy wasn't looking. As soon as math let out Gabriella rushed into her next class eager to get the day over with.

By lunch she found herself walking out of school and into a nearby store. _Great. They're all here. _Gabriella sighed as she saw about five cheerleaders and jocks, including Troy and Chad. How quickly she forgot; on Mondays, they all usually ate here. Thoughts of leaving seemed to be the best thing by now. But she was hungry, and she really didn't want to go back to school. Quietly, she stepped into the store and went straight for the end section. _Just some chips or something--_

"I'm telling you, Zeke won!" Troy started as the group laughed.

"How long are you still gonna continue this?" Chad said grabbed his drink.

"You're just upset because you don't want to admit I'm right."Troy countered, receiving a few high fives from the group. Gabriella returned from the back with what she planned to eat and paid the cashier. She definitely wasn't staying. As she exited, Gabriella took one last look at the group and scowled. Nothing had been going right at all this year. Last year was just perfect, everyone knew each other, and she felt on top of the world with Troy at her side. Now, all she wanted to do was hide under the covers and run from high school. Or maybe there could be a chance that her mother would decide to take the offer to transfer to Mississippi; save her from all this drama. Or maybe things could just get better on their own.

Pulling back from the thought, Gabriella began her walk back to the school. _Stupid people, stupid cliques! Why can't we all be friends! _She hadn't stopped thinking to herself until she heard _them. _Probably not too far behind her. Who cared whether they noticed her or not; they simply regarded it and kept with their conversation. Frustrated, Gabriella quickened her pace to the school. Nothing, absolutely nothing could be more embarrassing than walking alone and exactly in front of your distant boyfriend plus the rest of the populars. It even made it worse that she tripped on the first half step into the school. Silently she awaited the snickers as she carried on through the hallway. But, nothing; silence. Should she look back? If she did and they were there; that's just asking for an insult.

_Hey, what do you have to lose. _Hesitantly, she turned around and confirmed her guess; they weren't there. That didn't make sense. Weren't they just following her? Gabriella rolled her eyes. Who cared anyway, where they decided to go was their business, not hers. Lunch was just ending; give it about ten minutes or so. Gabriella decided to hit her next class early and get a head start on the already written notes on the board. Wow, how lonely did she look, being the only one in the class while everyone else was busy chatting with their friends. A few months ago, she probably would have been somewhere with Taylor talking about a new book or store, or at her locker discussing a new movie with Troy. Whatever she usually did, it wasn't this.

"I think we all should head over to my house after school Friday. Watch a movie or something? How about 300 or something?" Taylor said as she entered the room along with Kelsi.

"Darbus was telling me that she might want me to stay after school sometime this week to help the new performers with their lines for the fall play." Kelsi responded. Gabriella could feel them suddenly look at her while she copied down notes. Taylor mumbled something to Kelsi, probably about her but she didn't bother try to listen. She over heard Kelsi say 'she's just upset give her time' and walk to her seat with Taylor responding, 'yeah sure' and following her. What did she mean by 'she's just upset?'. Just upset by what? If there was something to be upset by, it would definitely be this ridiculous life she had gotten herself into. Gabriella remembered when she went to high school in Virginia, two years ago.

Sure, it wasn't as great as junior year was, but she had a good life. The weather was not like Albuquerque at all, and she still remembered her talks with friends about movies and such. Back then she was single and happy. There wasn't a need to wonder what your boyfriend was up too, or as big of a clique issue as it is in East High. Too bad she only got to spend one year there. Then her mother just had to promise her that she wouldn't transfer until after graduation. But, her mother had been talking about Mississippi for sometime; always saying that it had lots of great sites and houses and everything in between, however never forgetting to tell her daughter that the choice was up to her. 'I kept a promise to you sweetheart' she would say. 'It's your decision'

Well maybe she should choose yes, it's not like East high was holding her back now. Neither was Troy. Like always, he had better things to do than spend time with her.

So that was the plan, she would talk to her mother and at least get more details about this whole thing. Why should she have to spend her senior year miserable?

During History class, Gabriella spent her time usually either trying to pay attention or day dreaming. It wasn't her fault; it had to be the most boring thing since anything. Her eyes wandered, stopping on Taylor as she and Kelsi laughed over some joke. Well, they _were_ laughing until Taylor spotted her watching and rolled her eyes. _Great, she bothers me all day and now wants to talk about me. Just great. _

Gabriella averted her eyes to the board and continued to listen to the lecture until the bell rang. Quietly, she got her books and headed to her locker for her gym clothes. She had half the mind to take off the picture of Troy, while wondering if he even still had the picture of her. _Probably not._ Gabriella smiled to herself; she was almost contemplating secretly watching him open his locker to see if it was still there. She shook her head, what a stupid thought. _Please let 3:30 come already. _

Heading to the locker room, Gabriella stuffed her water bottle in her bag and opened her gym locker. After changing, she made her way outside the school and onto the track fields. Uh, how she almost forgot. Coach Bolton decided that he was going to have the class practice running laps. And she hated running. Not that she couldn't do it, and there were a lot of people in school who felt the same. She remembered when Troy joked, long ago, about how he could get them out of running exercises by simply using his mom as a threat. They always had a lot of jokes like that. But why did he even need to complain? In the time it took her to run a mile he'd have already been done with a few minutes to spare. _Oh well._ Gabriella sat on the stands waiting for the school day to be over. It wasn't long until she saw Taylor and Kelsi walk in. She was about to scowl until she saw _them _walk in. Of course, getting every other person's attention, the jocks walked in with the cheerleaders. Gabriella saw all the girls scowl in jealousy at cheerleaders' ability to look amazing even in gym shorts. Gabriella then spotted one of _them, _Dani Winter, first talk quietly with her friends then go up to Chad.

"Hey Chad." She said with a tone that was easy to recognize. Chad looked at her with a sly smile. "Hey."

"What are you doing after school today?" Chad looked at Troy then shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing much why?"

"Cool. Why don't you come to Amber's house, to just hang out. Troy, you can come too." She said.

"Sure." Troy responded.

"Great, can't wait to see you there." She finished smiling at Chad, then walking back to her friends. Troy looked at Chad with a smirk and Gabriella could distinctively see Chad staring at Dani's ass as she walked back. "Definitely can't wait for school to end." He said, continuing to eye Dani. Gabriella rolled her eyes until she noticed a very surprised and hurt Taylor also watching. She had to admit, Taylor was getting annoying, but she did feel sorry for her. Gabriella sighed and she pitied her best friend as Coach Bolton blew his whistle.

"Everyone get in a circle and start stretching. Today I want everyone to run at least one mile today." His announcement left everyone with groans. "Yeah, I know you all hate running. Come on lets stretch those quads!"

Gabriella sat herself down on the track and started to stretch. Inwardly she groaned as she saw of the cheerleaders decide to stretch herself in front of Troy. Was she really _that_ invisible? Considering she was too much of a wimp to tell the girl to back the hell up, Gabriella just got up and started to run. _Please don't fall please don't trip! _Gabriella switched to a sad song on her ipod and continued to ignore everything. Of course, as she predicted the athletes brushed past her; no sweat. Who cared anyway; all she had to do was this and then her free period was here. Already exhausted, Gabriella continued her run.

* * *

"Ok, we're gonna end five minutes early today." _Thank god. _Rapidly, Gabriella got out her books and headed to her locker to shove the rest of her books in her bag and leave. _Not one of the best days in my life, but at least it's over. _Ready to get home, Gabriella started walking, yet again ignoring another girl's attempts to pursue Troy while he got into his car. _Yep, I don't exist anymore. _Gabriella kept walking until she reached her home. Suddenly, she dropped her bag and went into her mother's work drawer, where she spotted papers and a website for good spots in Mississippi. _It's your decision. _"Mind as well get my homework out the way." She said to herself as she emptied her books and got to work.

2 hours later, she was finished. "I'm home!"

"Hey mom." Gabriella said getting out the papers as her mother walked through the doors . All she wanted was an answer for a possibility. "Can we talk?"

* * *

Gabriella opened her cell and went down the contact list. She had to admit, she was nervous and scared. _He won't care. We barely even talk. _Convincing herself, partially, Gabriella pressed send. The phone rang seven times until it got to voicemail. She hung up. _Should I even try again? Whatever, just once more. _Gabriella dialed again. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Hey."

"Hey can I talk to you about something." Gabriella said. Closely she listened to someone whining his name and telling him to get off the phone. _Oh yeah, himself and Chad were with Dani and Amber; go figure._

"Um, can we talk about this some other time?" Gabriella sighed. When were they going to get another time? He'd probably be off either with Chad or another girl would be trying to get his attention.

"Troy... I'm leaving." _Whoo that felt--_

"What?" Gabriella scooted back on her bed and held her pillow. The hard part was still yet to come.

"I'm going to Mississippi with my mom. She got transferred--"

"What do you mean transferred?" Gabriella clutched her pillow tighter. She didn't think he'd be this abrasive. Again, she heard someone whining his name in the back ground, now talking about a movie. "Start it without me."He responded. "Start over." Gabriella leaned down on her side. "My mom got a job and she thinks it's nice so..."

"But you said she wouldn't get another transfer; she promised."

"She did. She said it was my choice and in all reality; I mean--"

"I'm sorry guys I have to go." Gabriella over heard groans over the phone. 'Why? Come on stay and watch the movie'

'Don't be an ass man come on.' Gabriella closed her eyes. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. "Troy just stay there---"

"Where are you?"

"Troy just stay there--"

"Where are you?" He repeated.

"I'm at my house." She heard a shuffling of something, a coat?

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

"No Troy--" The phone clicked. _Great. _What was she supposed to say; after taking the time to plan it over the phone, she had to say it to his face.

Either, Amber lived only a few blocks away or time went faster than usual because her doorbell rang. _Dammit. _Gabriella got up and walked downstairs. She counted to three before she opened the door. "Hey." She said, looking down and letting him in.

"What are you talking about? What's this whole transfer thing?" He was angry, she noted.

"Basically, mom got a job and we're moving to Mississippi. There's a great house there she showed me and I think it's nice."

"What do you mean? What about here?"

"Here's fine, I just. I mean she's really liked it--"

"Gabriella you can't just leave." _Why not?_

"Why not I've done it every summer since I was five. And it's not like you'll miss me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" _You should know_

"What do you think? Why did you even come here?"

"I don't know, to talk some sense into my girlfriend!"

"Sense? Let's talk about sense then." Gabriella stepped forward. "We've barely spent anytime time together. I don't even see you anymore and I've never felt so miss placed in my life! So can we stop pretending that we have anything anymore and move on with our lives?!" Whether that was exactly what she meant, it sure felt good to say it. What she didn't expect, was for him to grab her hand and walk her to his car. "Where are we going?"

"Just wait." He responded as they got into his car. Gabriella just stared out the window until they pulled up to a nearby park. She got out walking towards the benches and sat down. Gabriella watched Troy follow and sit next to her. "Ok, let's start over. So you're telling me that your mom got a job in Mississippi and you're moving. This is your choice too." Gabriella nodded her head. "And, this is because of school and you and me?" Gabriella closed her eyes.

"You can't say that we haven't been distant." Through everything, that had definatelty been true. She opened her eyes. Had he gotten closer?

"Ok. I get it." Gabriella looked at him.

"We've been apart and things aren't as they've been. But do you really want to give everything up?"

"Well, I don't but we're not--"

"We're not what Gabriella? We're not good together, we shouldn't continue our relationship?" Gabriella looked down and felt him grab her hand. "Cause I don't" Gabriella sighed and got up; him following. "Look around this place." She did as he commanded. "We've done some of the craziest, dumbest, and most irresponsible this that I'm embarrassed by here." _But then why--_"And I wanna continue doing all those stupid things." Gabriella looked into his eyes. "I can't do that if you're in Mississippi, now can I?""No." She responded. "But," She said looking away and to her surroundings. "But what?" Troy said, tugging on his hold to get her attention.

"What am I supposed to tell my mom? I mean she really wanted this."

"Good question."He responded. "Well, why don't you tell her you have a crazy boyfriend who loves you and won't let you leave?"

"Oh but what if I don't love that crazy boyfriend back?" She playfully responded, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh, trust me you do."

"Really?" She responded with a smile. "Well what if---"

"Shh," He said before leaning down and kissing her lips. Not bothering to respond, Gabriella kissed back. _Yes. _

"Wait, don't you have to get back to Amber's house?"

"Nah, they were gonna watch Prom Night. No thanks."

"Hey I love that movie!"

"Shh,' Troy said, yet again silencing her with a kiss. And, once again, Gabriella happily did not object.

* * *

Wow I haven't written in a while!

_Veronica


End file.
